strawberry harvest clone

[agentEhrman]

can't wait to hear how it tastes!

I can speak on experience that extract alone just doesn't cut it. Mine came out a bit "artificial" tasting..

 

[mpenn35]

Has anyone ever added some lactose to a beer like this to sweeten/cancel out the tartness the strawberry taste a bit? Just a thought. I brewed my Belgian Blonde yesterday and will be racking onto some strawberries in a few weeks.

 

[Gregoire]

If you used puree, it's likely that the beer will turn out a bit closer to Covington's Strawberry Cream ale, which has a bit of that fruity sourness that the Abita doesn't.

I've brewed a 5 gallon batch of that recently using Jamil's Cream Ale recipe and 5 pounds of frozen strawberries that I pureed and pasteurized. Just bottled it yesterday, but when flat it tasted damned good. When I do it again, I'll add a touch of maltodextrine to give it a bit more body.

 

[tmurph6]

I used frozen strawberries, but filtered all the yeast out to keep some sweetness. It did smell like covingtons beer though, which I'm not happy about because I think the Covington strawberry is awful.

 

[tmurph6]

Just an update, I know I said I would side by side, and just to keep my word, I promise I'll give side by side comparisons soon with pictures. However, I had this beer yesterday so here are my notes:

A: Pours a hazy yellow orange with small white head (not fully carved yet)
S: Smells like citrus, tart fruit, mostly grapefruity nose, can't really distinguish strawberry
T: Absolutely delicious, fruity, some citric acid from the fruit, resfreshing. Tastes like a mix of grapefruit and strawberry, more grapefruit.
M: Light, easy to drink, dangerous...

All in all I'm calling this beer a successful batch, but absolutely nowhere near cloned to Strawberry harvest. A noble attempt though. I still stand by my original statement that I nailed the base beer. If I was going to do it again I would shrink the grain bill to get 4.2% instead of 5.2%, was a little too efficient. I would lager it with German Lager yeast, as I've come to learn that's pretty close to what Abita uses. Lastly I would juice the strawberries and rack the bright beer into the strawberry juice and leave it cold so the strawberries didn't ferment at all.

On another note, my wife, who absolutely hates beer, really loves this one!

 

[sirgeoph]

Looks like you got pretty close, from what I see. Though, those frozen Dole strawberries will never beat out fresh Louisiana strawberries

 

[tmurph6]

I was half hoping a brewer from abita would see this and jump in and give pointers along the way...you don't fit that bill do you

 

[sirgeoph]

Haha, I only come close in physical proximity to the brewery. Though, considering the total gallons of Abita Strawberry I've ingested over the years, I'd probably be able to give a few pointers in a taste test!

 

[DirtyDachshunds]

I'm planning on trying this recipe with your after-brew adjustments sometime soon. I had my first Abita Strawberry Harvest last week, and I knew I had to try to clone it.

I'll let you know if I can get any closer.

 

[tmurph6]

Post your recipe pre brew. When are you planning on brewing?

 

[Chefencore]

Going to Nola in 2 weeks! Hope they have some
Left. I'll bring back a few to do side by side

 

[tmurph6]

Without further ado, this is what it looks like done and fully carbed. Now I'm a terrible photographer so one picture is without flash and one picture is with flash. I had a crawfish boil yesterday and it was a big hit. When I took this picture I had just put the keg back upstairs so it was a bit shook up when I poured it. It usually has a 1 finger head on it when poured at 12psi on 10' lines.

Tart and refreshing. Nowhere near strawberry harvest though...try again...

 

[D_Nyholm]

Made a strawberry blonde using 8 lbs of frozen kirkland strawberries. The strawberry flavor and aroma was awesome, but the tartness made the beer almost undrinkable. I even backsweetened with a little Splenda.

I think the key is killing all the yeast with campden and sorbate and then using the strawberry juice to backsweeten. Have you ever taken a gravity reading of the original product? I wouldnt be surprised to see it up at 1.015-1.018 if it is a sweet beer. At least you can try to match the F.G. that way and be closer to the recipe.

 

[DirtyDachshunds]

Post your recipe pre brew. When are you planning on brewing?

6 gallon batch post boil
OG - 1.040
Bitterness - 14.4 IBUs
Color - 3 SRM (additional color probably added from Strawberries)


My recipe:

1.78 lbs Wheat Malt
7.1 lbs pilsner malt
WLP830 - German Lager
.75oz Mt. Hood at 60 minutes (6% AA)
7lbs frozen strawberries

Single infusion mash at 150 deg F for a crisp dry finish.

60 minute boil. Single hop addition at 60 minutes.

Primary fermentation: 2-3 weeks at 53 deg F, 2 day diacetal rest at 68 deg F. Rack to secondary
Secondary fermentation: 1 week lagering at 38 deg F. Add 5 camden tablets (to hopefully kill any remaining yeast) and strawberry mix. Lager another 5 days on strawberries. Rack to keg

Carbinate as normal.

I can't decide whether to juice the strawberries or just put the whole strawberries in a food processor with some water to make a strawberry paste. Opinions?
I fear if I use the entire strawberries I could extract tannins and undesired tartiness that I wouldn't from the juice alone. And if I juice, do you think I should use more than 7 lbs of strawberries?

I probably won't be able to make this for another 1-2 months. My lagering fridge is currently occupied for another month.

Ideas? Improvements? Suggestions? I'm all ears!

 

[tmurph6]

Juice. Abita doesn't age on berries. Mix it and keg next day.

Not that it would change the flavor profile, but abita goes 75% pils, 25% wheat. What's the expected gravity doing 6# and 2#?

 

[DirtyDachshunds]

Juice. Abita doesn't age on berries. Mix it and keg next day.

Not that it would change the flavor profile, but abita goes 75% pils, 25% wheat. What's the expected gravity doing 6# and 2#?

6# and 2# for a 6 gallon post boil batch assuming 72% efficiency results in a OG of 1.036 or 3.7% ABV

I'll take your advice and just use the juice. Thanks!

 

[Zalf]

With freezing I still halve them just to get as much strawberry in contact with the beer as possible. For now, I can verify that frozen/Halved gives a good natural taste. In a couple of weeks I will have an opinion on frozen/halved + 1/2 lb of lactose mix.

Edit: I haven't done a strawberry extract but peach extract isn't impressing me.

8 lbs of frozen strawberries under a blonde recipe with 1/2 lb of lactose at the same time as the berries. 3 weeks in the bottle and it is still very tart. I love it but it would still be too tart for anyone not expecting a "real" berry flavor. I will probably go with a full pound of lactose the next time I do a strawberry blonde just to see how much difference that makes.

 

[Chefencore]

You just quoted yourself

 

[agentEhrman]

OK, my base beer will be done soon and I am thinking of juicing the strawberries and simply adding to the keg like suggested here. I have a pretty good juicer (breville) that is very efficient. I am planning to add the juice to the keg and rack on top of it.

My first idea is to sanitize a couple large baggies and put the cleaned strawberries in them and then freeze them. Then thaw in the baggies before juicing them. I would also sanitize the juicer.

Will this be enough to keep the nasties out? Or do I need to do more to pasteurize them?

 

[tmurph6]

Don't pasteurize. It's unnecessary. The alcohol in your beer and the cold temperatures will ward off infection

 

[agentEhrman]

Don't pasteurize. It's unnecessary. The alcohol in your beer and the cold temperatures will ward off infection

Would you even recommend sanitizing the juicer and baggies then??

 

[tmurph6]

Couldn't hurt

 

[Chefencore]

Oh, just opened my first ash of the season! Soooo delicious! Can't wait to get to Nola next week.

 

[agentEhrman]

Going to get my strawberries, do you think 5# is the right amount of juice for the keg?

 

[agentEhrman]

5# of strawberries, not juice btw

 

[hefehawk]

Another local brewery is making a strawberry cream ale, which I think is better than Abita's version since it seems an ale is more suitable and might be easier to get right. The name of it is Covington Strawberry Cream Ale. It is a lot better from the tap than it is from the bottle btw.

 

[agentEhrman]

I grabbed 6# of fresh organic, I'm going to let them sit on the counter for a day and see if they get a little more ripe. I'm thinking about throwing some campden in with juice, unless the cold crash in the keg will be enough to keep the yeast from trying to ferment some of the strawberry sugar.. Any ideas here? I have no idea how much would be appropriate, 1 tablet per gallon?

 

[tmurph6]

5# is probably pretty good for the juicing. Campden couldn't hurt.

In my personal opinion, I like the abita strawberry way better than the covington. I know a lot people who prefer the covington though, which baffles me because the covington strawberry I've never actually been able to finish because i think it's so awful.

 

[hefehawk]

5# is probably pretty good for the juicing. Campden couldn't hurt.

In my personal opinion, I like the abita strawberry way better than the covington. I know a lot people who prefer the covington though, which baffles me because the covington strawberry I've never actually been able to finish because i think it's so awful.

Have you tried it on draft? Way better than the bottle. My wife loves the stuff, but only on draft.

 

[tmurph6]

I've heard it's good on draft. Never had it myself though. I know out of the bottle though it's sour tasting and there's too much strawberry pulp for me.